Mumbai, Aug. 27 -- Stock markets declined for the second consecutive day on Thursday, with the benchmark Sensex dropping by 539 points due to last-minute selling in blue-chip shares such as HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries.
The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 539.35 points, or 0.70 per cent, to settle at the day's low of 76,933.59. Similarly, the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 116.90 points, or 0.48 per cent, to end at the day's low of 24,090.85.
HDFC Bank was the biggest loser among 30 Sensex firms, dropping by 2.08 per cent following news of a US class-action lawsuit. Reliance Industries fell by 1 per cent, dragging the index down. Bharti Airtel, NTPC, M&M, HCL Tech and ITC were also among major laggards. Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, Tech Mahindra and Bharat Electronics were among the winners.
The BSE MidCap Select index declined 0.47 per cent, while SmallCap Select Index ended largely flat, up 0.01 per cent.
Among BSE sectoral indices, MidSmall Pvt Banks tanked the most by 2.57 per cent, followe by MidSmall Pvt Banks Quality Tilt (2.41 per cent), PSU Bank (2.12 per cent), Bankex (1.67 per cent), Pvt Banks index (1.19 per cent) and Top 10 Banks (1.07 per cent).
Capital Goods, Telecom, Healthcare and Industrials were the winners.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.